When it comes to providing equipment finance for the fish and chip shop industry, we know our stuff. With over 15 years experience and over 100 chip shop deals under our belt, we have the kind of vast experience that means we can help with almost any proposal.
One question we’re often asked is, “What makes you different from bank lending?” Since banks are the traditional go-to sources of financing, it’s not surprising that we get that a lot. However if you’ve not been to your bank yet, you might be surprised to learn that a lot of banks will refuse lending to businesses that don’t meet their quite stringent criteria.
This is where we are different.
We have access to our own lending panel, with independent funds. This means that if we believe your business is worth the investment, then so will our underwriters. Our criteria for deciding which businesses to provide finance to is different from banks, and because of this we can often help companies which have already been turned down by their bank.
We asked our Managing Director, Mark Johnson, what makes Johnson Reed special:
We look at every clients circumstances on an individual basis. We look at ability to repay and we look at experience and opportunity. I will actually view a shop using satellite technology and see how many houses there are and how much competition there is. I know a winner when I see one and if an operator has a good personal attitude to credit and their own home, I can usually broker a deal with the best rate available for the risk. It’s very much like the old fashioned common sense underwriting you used to get and not based on a ratio or a score. I will work with a client to ensure their equipment purchasing leaves them with cash flow and some great tax efficient savings too.
When asked if he could give an example of a recent chip shop deal, he said:
A good example recently was a customer who had thirty plus years experience in the trade, had been very very successful before retiring and who had been unlucky since with investments. He decided to return to the trade with his son but was getting on a bit. The son having little trading history and the father being too mature made them a bad fit for the high street banks. Their site was terrific, the pair were destined to succeed and so I presented their case to my panel of lenders and sanctioned exactly what they needed to buy all their capital equipment and not just their frying range. This allowed them to be ready to open with a manageable monthly cost – spread over a long enough period of time to keep the cash flow strong within the business.
It’s important to remember that the benefits of leasing aren’t just in the lower entry criteria, there are also tax advantages to consider as well. When you factor that against the gas savings, then you might find that leasing a new range of equipment is less than you think!
If you want more information about our Chip Shop finance, simply call us on 0161 429 6949 and we’ll answer any questions you have.
